Religion: Sex Before Marriage

In the continuing war between science and religion, the issue last week
was sex. From Science's corner, Anthropologist George Peter Murdock of
Yale threw out the challenge. Said he: "There is . . . nothing in man's
social experience to indicate that the ideal of premarital chastity has
any scientific value."

Out of 250 human societies he had studied, 70% permit "sexual
experimentation" before marriage, Professor Murdock told the 37th
annual meeting of the American Social Hygiene Association, in
Manhattan. Anthropologist Murdock wished more power to "socially
controlled premarital experimentation." Said he: "The sexual laxity
current among our own youth is admittedly...